In Your Dreams
by aka Arashi
Summary: Tamahome VS Tasuki revisited. One event could have changed the outcome of the battle! A small piece of insanity I thought up after having a particularly satisfying dream. (ever dream about Anime? It's SCARY!) Rated PG13 for Tasuki and some violence.


Author: Arashi (Arashi@kenkaya.com) (feel free to email me with comments! I love email!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yugi and I'm not making any money off this. Leave me alone!

Notes: This is my first FY fic so please be gentle with your reviews. The idea came to me this morning when I woke up, and I could not pass up the opportunity to write it down and get it out of my head. (of course, that means this whole thing is unedited, sorry for any mistakes I made) I'm in the middle of a huge Rurouni Kenshin story and I'm at a point in the fic that reminds me of a certain battle between friends in FY. I've also felt inspired to write something for FY for a while now... so anyway, here it is. If you like what you read, please review! Heck, even if you hate it I'd still like to hear your comments. Reviews make writing worthwhile!

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**In Your Dreams**

"Tasuki stop! Tamahome's one of the Suzaku Seven, too no da!" Clutched tightly against the blue haired monk was the unconscious form of the Priestess of Suzaku. "He's one of us, no da!"

The urgency and pleading in Chichiri's tone had no effect on the fiery haired bandit he was speaking to. Holding his fist clenched in rage, Tasuki stared down the man they'd come to save. The trickle of blood tracing down the side of his face served to remind Tasuki that there was no way in hell this guy was a friend.

"Shut up!" Tasuki roared. "Look what he did! Is that what a friend does?" Eyes flashing and fangs bared, Tasuki made up his mind. _Win or lose I'm taking him on!!! _His pure fury escaped in the form of a ferocious battle cry as Tasuki charged at the man formerly known as Tamahome.

Tamahome slid into his battle stance easily, pulling back his nunchucks and preparing to strike. Tasuki put all his force behind a brutal punch that should have knocked the cocky grin off Tamahome's face. Deflecting the blow easily, Tamahome prepared to deal a blow of his own but the bandit was too fast. Tamahome barely managed to block a vicious roundhouse kick with his forearms and the force of the impact knocked him back a few feet.

Leaping into the air, Tasuki prepared to land a blow on the top of Tamahome's head but somehow the brainwashed Celestial Warrior anticipated his attack. Tasuki caught a nasty kick to the gut and felt himself flying backwards through the air. His flight was cancelled midway as he felt himself slam against something large, hard, and unmoving. Sliding down, Tasuki found himself leaning against the base of a large tree. Tamahome stood, inspecting his handiwork with his eerie smile.

"Why, you!!!" Tasuki growled menacingly as he met Tamahome's glare. Tamahome started twirling his nunchucks around apparently thinking this would somehow frighten Tasuki. "You sure like wavin' that toy around, don't you?" Tasuki was back on his feet and the last thing on his mind was fear. "If we're gonna fight with toys" Tasuki reached back and found the handle to his trusty tessen. "Then I'll use this!" Pulling the tessen free from its place at his back, the bandit leader whipped the weapon back. "REKKA SHINEN!!!"

The blast of fire was particularly impressive, and would have been more so if it had actually hit his opponent. Somehow, Tamahome had dodged the blast. _Doesn't matter!_ Tasuki thought to himself as he closed the fan, turning it into a stabbing weapon. "I've got you now!" A flurry of blows rained down on Tamahome, but through sheer skill and luck, he managed to dodge every one of them. Tamahome lunged past him and for a split second Tasuki thought he'd managed to score a hit. Instead of seeing blood erupt from the cocky face, the blue headband fell away neatly sliced right in two. _Funny how I cut his damn headband and didn't even scratch him. Lucky bastard._

"Tasuki, stop it no da!" _Aw hell, what does he want this time?_ "That may be Tamahome, but it ISN'T Tamahome, you know?!" Listening to Chichiri had effectively distracted Tasuki and he found himself the focus of Tamahome's attacks. _Shit, the monk distracts me and doesn't even bother making sense._

"No, I don't know! Talk sense, ya damn fool!" Trying to carry on a conversation and fight at the same time was just a little too much for Tasuki to handle at that moment. Catching a fist in the jaw he quickly forgot about Chichiri. "Ow! Whaddaya think yer doin', you!!!" Tamahome had his attention now. Not that it mattered in a moment Tasuki found himself on his back on the ground with a very smug and evil Tamahome standing over him. _Shit!_

As Tamahome pulled back his nunchucks a female voice rang out in the night air giving Tasuki the strength and speed he needed. "Kick his ASS Tasuki!!" Miaka had regained consciousness and as she witnessed the fight and Tasuki's imminent danger she couldn't contain herself. Renewed vigor coursed through Tasuki's veins as Tamahome's nunchucks came crashing toward him. Spreading his tessen, Tasuki deflected the blow with uncanny speed and then flipped up to his feet. Tamahome was momentarily surprised by his quickness but he contained it well.

Rushing toward Tasuki, Tamahome swung his nunchucks viciously. With the open fan, Tasuki deflected each of his attacks. "Way to go Tasuki!" Miaka cheered from the sidelines. "Make that bastard pay for hurting me!" Each time she spoke, Tasuki felt himself becoming more confident. _This guy hurt Miaka and she wants to see him punished. What's a Suzaku Shichi Seishi to do?_ Tasuki renewed his attack with a wild grin as he deflected each blow and then counterattacked with the sharp edges of the tessen. Soon, Tamahome's body was covered in cuts and bruises.

"Are you sure, Miaka?" Chichiri put a questioning hand on Miaka's shoulder.

"I'm positive Chichiri! How could I possibly love him anymore? He's our enemy now right?" Chichiri seemed to consider this before he turned his attention to Tasuki.

"Kill that son of a bitch, no da!!"

His friends were in agreement. Smiling as he allowed Tamahome a moment of respite, Tasuki pulled back his fan. The weakened Tamahome was barely able to stay on his feet and Tasuki knew there was no way for the man to dodge his next attack.

"REKKA SHINEN!!!"

Tasuki's arm smacked against something hard but the pain that coursed up his arm seemed drastically out of proportion. "OW!" Tasuki hissed as he opened his eyes or rather, eye. His right eye was covered and judging from the pain that seemed to be radiating from that part of his head, it wouldn't have opened if he'd wanted it to. Right in his face, too close to actually focus on, a strange purple haired blob was grinning at him. Tasuki yelled out in surprise and tried to flee for his life but only succeeded in causing himself undue amounts of pain as he body protested every movement.

"Good morning Tasuki-chan!" An overly cheerful voice came out of the blob that was slowly focusing into the face of the strange, purpled-haired, cross-dressing Celestial Warrior.

Thoroughly disorientated, Tasuki clutched his aching left arm with his right and tried to figure out exactly where he was and what was going on. "Wha?" He glanced around the room and then back at Nuriko.

"Do you usually hit people when they wake you up for breakfast or am I just special?" Nuriko smiled at him and slowly everything came into focus. I_'m at the palace_ Glancing down at the splint wrapped around his left arm Tasuki realized that he had indeed lost the fight with Tamahome.

"Aw shit" Slumping back into the comfortable pillow, Tasuki suddenly didn't feel like getting out of bed.

"What's wrong Tasuki-chan? Were you having a nice dream?"

Managing a weak lopsided grin, Tasuki answered. "Yeah, you could sorta say that"

Nuriko giggled. "I thought as much. I've never seen someone laugh so much in their sleep. But what's with randomly yelling out 'Rekka Shinen' and smacking people in the face?"

Avoiding the question, Tasuki carefully removed his sheet and slid his legs over the side of the bed. Nuriko handed him his crutch and Tasuki took it, not bothering to hide his displeasure. "When the hell is Mitsukake gonna be able to heal me already?"

"It's going to be another day at least since he had to heal Tamahome last night"

_Tamahome!?_ Tasuki's mind whirled at the mention of their fellow Celestial Warrior. _Aw shit, that's right. That punk is here now_

Nuriko looked thoughtful and then turned away, heading toward the door. "C'mon slow poke, breakfast is ready."

When they arrived, Tasuki was quite happy to note that Tamahome was not present at the breakfast table. Sitting down gingerly, Tasuki nodded his greetings to the other Suzaku Shichi Seishi who were already eating. Tasuki began to eat but the peaceful morning was disturbed when Miaka and Tamahome entered the dining room.

Tamahome laughed and joked with the rest of the Suzaku Seven and Tasuki found it immediately apparent that everyone still liked him. _He hurts Miaka, beats the shit out of me, and they all pat him on the back and laugh at his jokes? _Breakfast was suddenly very unappetizing.

"What's wrong?" Tamahome had noticed Tasuki's dirty looks and the fact that he hadn't touched his food since he'd entered the room. "You're not eating."

_As if he has no IDEA what he did to me! _"I lose my appetite when I'm with you!" Tasuki tossed his head to the side so he wouldn't have to look at him anymore. He was being rude, but Tamahome deserved it.

"Just what is it with that attitude of yours?!" Tamahome was either clueless or a good actor. "We just met, but you won't even give me the time of day!"

That pushed Tasuki over the edge. "Just met?!" Leaning forward, Tasuki angrily slammed his arms against the table. "Why you! Who do you think hurt me like this?!" Images of the beating he'd suffered at Tamahome's hands flashed through Tasuki's mind, and they were nothing like the wonderful dream he'd been having. Tamahome broke up his flashback by pushing against Tasuki's broken arm with the back of his hand casually. "Ow! Ow! Ow! You'll pay for this, you little punk!" Tasuki roared pitifully as he clutched at his left arm in pain.

"I'd like to see you try it!" Tamahome laughed and the others soon joined in. Tasuki only took so much more abuse before he decided it wasn't worth sticking around, especially since he didn't feel like eating anymore. Excusing himself as politely as he could manage, Tasuki limped out of the dining room and out onto the covered walkway.   
  
He didn't make it very far before he heard someone follow him out. "Hey, wait up!" It was Tamahome and the last thing Tasuki felt like doing was letting him catch up.

"What do you want now?" Tasuki didn't bother stopping or turning his head as he asked the question.

Tamahome was at his side in an instant and matched paces with the slowly moving bandit. "T Tasuki right?" Tasuki eyed him with his good eye and nodded imperceptibly to his question. "I'm sorry. It seems you and I have gotten off to a bad start I heard about the things that I did to you before I don't remember a thing, but if it's any consultation to you, I apologize." Tamahome sounded appropriately guilty and for a moment Tasuki wanted to accept his apology. His ego got the better of him though.

"Ya know, Tamahome-kun, if Miaka hadn't told me not to hurt you, I would have kicked your ass."

The sincere friendly look Tamahome had been given him melted away with a wave of hysterical laughter. Tamahome had to hold onto Tasuki's shoulder to keep himself from falling over. After sucking in enough air to breathe, Tamahome managed to throw back a retort. "In your dreams, Tasuki!"

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Like it? Hate it? I hope you Tasuki fans out there appreciate it! Of course, this fic wasn't meant to offend anyone. I happen to like all the characters in FY. Saturday night, I actually had a dream about Tasuki kicking Tamahome's butt. I woke up feeling all warm and fuzzy. *snicker* And then I thought to myself, "If I can have a dream about this, I'm SURE Tasuki would!" And if you're like me, you have a secret suspicion that Tasuki might have been able to do some serious damage to Tamahome if Miaka didn't go and beg him not to hurt Tamahome... *sigh* Not saying he would have beat him... or anything. *wicked grin* 

If you guys review nicely, I may even write some more FY stories. If not, well... I'll just stick to Rurouni Kenshin land I guess. *grin* By the way, I just want to give a special thanks to Omni82 for writing her wonderful fic "Spelling Not Required". If I was to give anyone credit for inspiring me to write this fic, it would be her. You haven't checked it out yet? Shame on you! Go read it right now! (well, after you review!) 


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